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PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania will enter the 2014 men’s soccer season as defending Ivy League champions for the first time since 2009, and will embark on a 17-match slate which will feature 10 non-conference games in addition to the annual seven-match Ancient Eight schedule.

"Once again, we have put together a schedule full of quality opponents that will position us to achieve the lofty goals we have set for our program," James C. Gentle Head Coach of Men's Soccer Rudy Fuller said. "Last season, we felt our non-conference schedule prepared us well for the demands of our Ivy League slate and this year will be no different. We have sought out games against some of the top programs in the country and look forward to the challenges those game will present us."

Penn will take on four first-time opponents in 2014, headlined by a trip to Washington to take on the University of Washington and Seattle University. In 2013, both teams were NCAA Tournament qualifiers with the Huskies earning the tournament’s No. 2 seed and winning two matches to reach the quarterfinals. The weekend in Washington will be a homecoming for Penn’s three “Evergreen State” natives in Louis Schott, Matt Poplawski and Marc Kaizi-Lutu.

The Quakers reached the NCAA Tournament for the 10th time in program history in 2013, and will play four clubs who joined them in the national tournament this season. In addition to the Huskies and Red Hawks, the Quakers will battle Drexel and Penn State who also reached the NCAA Tournament last season.

Penn’s meeting with neighboring Drexel will kick off the 2014 season when the Quakers and Dragons meet at Rhodes Field on September 5 at 7 p.m. as part of the University City Classic. The Quakers will follow up with their first-ever meeting with Central Connecticut State on September 7 at 4:30 p.m.

After the trip to Washington, the Red and Blue return home to take on American on Sept 18. The two teams last met in 2010, a 1-0 win for the Quakers in double overtime. The Quakers will stay in-state for their next two games, both on the road. The first is a quick trip to Broad Street to square off with Temple on September 21 before making the trip to Happy Valley and the Nittany Lions on Sept. 24.

The Red and Blue’s third Philadelphia Soccer Six contest of the season brings Saint Joseph’s to Rhodes Field on September 30 for the final tune-up before Ivy League play commences.

Cornell is the Ivy opener for the Quakers as Penn will head to Ithaca October 4. The Quakers will play four road Ivy matches this season, also heading to Dartmouth (October 18), Yale (October 25) and Princeton (November 8) for Ancient Eight contests.

Penn’s three home Ivy games will see Columbia (October 11), Brown (November 1) and Harvard (November 15) all visit Rhodes Field.

In the middle of Ivy play will be Penn’s final two nonconference matches of 2014. On October 14, Penn will head to Rutgers and October 28 will see the first-ever meeting between Penn and West Virginia when the Mountaineers travel to Rhodes Field.